


Over the Table, Into the Water

by orphan_account



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Oneshot, Romance, Tropes, kissingbooth!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 12:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6239521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why the hell do I have to get in the dunk tank?” </p>
<p>That one post-WC in which Seirin holds a fundraiser during the school festival that hosts a dunk tank, a takoyaki stand, and a kissing booth to replace the goal hoop that Bakagami broke. Obviously, this attracts some attention from a few of the Generation of Miracles.</p>
<p>For the AkaKuroWhiteDay2016 Event exchange!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over the Table, Into the Water

“Why the hell do I have to get in the dunk tank?”

 

Kuroko looked at him over his shoulder where he was preparing the booth and the money collection box for the dunk tank. “You broke our goal hoop, Kagami-kun.”

 

“It was an accident! And the goal hoop was old anyway!” Kagami growled mutinously through the glass wall, glaring down at the water just below his feet. He was so tall that they had to ask for the large tank from the attractions rental store. “This is cruel and unusual punishment!”

 

“Oh?” Hyūga’s voice reached them mockingly. “And I guess you have six hundred thousand yen lying around to replace that goal hoop?”

 

“A ring would only cost five thousand yen, at most,” Kagami grumbled, kicking at the side of the tank.

 

Coach Riko was strolling by, organizing the second years in their preparation for the takoyaki booth, and heard their conversation. “School policy and safety regulations for sports mean that we have to replace the entire set up, Bakagami. Stop complaining or I’ll triple your training menu.”

 

“But it’s already doubled!” he squawked indignantly.

 

Her eyes narrowed. Kagami gulped and said nothing, glaring at the snickers from Koganei and Tsuchida.

 

“That’s right, Bakagami,” Hyūga continued mulishly, “you don’t even have the worst job.”

 

“Oh, come on, Hyūga,” Kiyoshi said next to him, “it’s not so bad. Let’s have fun, too, yeah?”

 

“I mean, it’s kinda like having a girlfriend?” Koganei added unsurely, wrapping a white bandana around his head.

 

Hyūga whirled around. “It’s a Kissing Booth, Koganei! A _Kissing Booth_!” He slumped back into his chair behind the pink-colored booth, his head hidden in his arms. “I haven’t even had a girlfriend yet, and now this.” _My first kiss_ , he bemoaned inside, _my first kiss is going to be sold for five hundred yen_.

 

“Whatever, Hyūga-kun, you should be flattered!” Coach Riko said, her clipboard perched on her hip. “I picked you three because you’re arguably the best looking players on the team!” She then mumbled over her shoulder: “Well, we’ll probably earn the most money from Izuki-kun, though.” _If we can keep him from making puns._

 

“Ah! Watch out, Koganei!” Tsuchida shouted, lurching forward to catch the full cooler of takoyaki meat that Koganei was nearly spilled. Mitobe rushed over to help as well, his eyes wide in panic.

 

Kuroko continued counting out the small stock of change they had pooled from leftover club funds for the booths, taking his seat next to the dunk tank well out of splashing range from the sullen power forward locked inside. The school festival was in full swing around them, booths set up and students buzzing around. A cotton candy stand was nearby, alongside an arts and crafts booth that was being run by the girls in the class next to theirs. A dozen other food stands were beginning to cook their products; Kuroko knew for a fact that there was an American-style burger stand near the entrance of the school that Kagami would undoubtedly be sneaking away to at some point. Maybe some of his fellow students would be making milkshakes today as well…

 

“Still think it’s unfair,” Kagami grumbled. “The bolts were already rusted. It’s not any different from that time at Kaijo, and we didn’t have to pay for that.”

 

“But this was our own goal this time, Kagami-kun. Please bear with this; it’s only for a few hours.” He allowed himself a small smirk from the corner of his mouth at his light’s hard sigh.

 

“Oi! Kagami!”

 

They turned to see several of the boys from their class grinning in front of the dunk tank.

 

“Hello, everyone,” Kuroko greeted them.

 

“Oh! Kuroko, sorry. Didn’t see you there.” Miyagi-kun rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, reaching forward for one of the basketballs in front of the tank, waiting to drop Kagami-kun into cold, wet misery for the rest of the day. “Is your booth open yet? I’ve got five hundred yen with Kagami’s name on it.”

 

“You bastards,” Kagami growled from the tank. “Just you wait, once I’m out of here I’ll—”

 

“Step right up, please,” Kuroko welcomed politely, blithely ignoring Kagami’s indignant shout of “Kuroko, you bastard!” and pointing to the chalk line on the ground three yards from the target. “Good luck on your shot, Miyagi-kun.”

 

Kuroko watched his laughing classmates heckle Kagami from outside the tank, before getting distracted by a couple walking by, holding small plates of ice cream mochi in their hands. _Akashi-kun enjoys ice cream mochi_ , he wondered, watching them pass. Except for their game on his birthday, Kuroko had not seen any of his old teammates since the Winter Cup. He received weekly texts from both Momoi-san and Kise-kun, and during exam week Midorima-kun had called demanding the return of his Rolly Rolly pencil, claiming that Takao had stolen his (Kuroko did not obey this request; Kagami-kun would not survive Japanese History without it). But he had not heard from Aomine-kun, Murasakibara-kun, or Akashi-kun.

 

He knew that they weren’t the type for texting or social calls; Aomine couldn’t even be trusted to keep tract of his phone on a day-to-day basis. But he had hoped that he would hear a bit more from Akashi-kun, after the old team’s reconciliation. Kuroko had no intentions of ever revealing his feelings for his former captain, still strong and lingering after a year of distance and heartbreak, but he would have liked to remain friends…even just a little bit longer.

 

A hard splash erupted from behind him, accompanied by Kagami’s roar of anger and the raucous laughter of his classmates. He turned to watch as well, his small smirk still turning the corner of his mouth. Perhaps he would just have to make a trip himself to Rakuzan at some point.

 

* * *

 

 

_The day before_ ….

 

A young man with dark red hair, impeccably dressed in his school uniform after a long day at Rakuzan, sat in the back of a town car, gentle music playing softly from the speakers. His phone began to buzz in his pocket, prompting him to withdraw it from his pants’ pocket and check the caller ID. Momoi Satsuki.

 

“Momoi-san, good evening,” he answered, smiling softly at her exuberant reply. “How are you?”

 

He listened patiently to her reply, his other hand pulling his planner from his school bag and checking the weekend’s events. Suddenly, he refocused on their conversation, his head raised.

 

“Oh? Seirin’s School Festival?”

 

He listened for a few minutes more, a small frown forming on his lips.

 

“Kissing Booth?”

 

* * *

 

 

_That morning_ …

 

“Come _on_ , Dai-chan!” Momoi urged in frustration, tugging his arm onto the early morning train. “We have to take this train or we’ll miss Tetsu-kun’s school festival!”

 

“Such a pain,” Aomine groused, lazily allowing her to drag him onto the bench seat. “Why do we have to go to this anyway? Tetsu won’t give a f—”

 

“Dai-chan, language!” Momoi scolded quickly, noting the mother with two kids a couple seats down from them. “And you know why!”

 

He blinked at her sleepily, slouching into the seat, legs spread wide. “Oh, the kissing booth thing?”

 

“Yes!” She squealed, then quickly stifling her voice when the mother shushed her. She nudged Aomine when he gave the woman a challenging glare, smiling gently. “Anyway, Tetsu-kun’s team is having a takoyaki stand, a dunk tank, and a kissing booth as part of their school festival, to raise money to replace the goal hoop Kagami broke!” Aomine snorted. “I can’t pass up a chance to kiss Tetsu-kun! He’s normally so shy and sweet, polite as a gentleman. This chance is too good to pass up.”

 

Aomine shifted away from her at the manic fangirl look in her eyes, wishing they’d had time to grab breakfast before the train. He needed more energy to put up with this shit. “Like they’d actually put Tetsu at the kissing booth. He’s practically invisible when he wants to be—you’d be his only customer.”

 

She sniffed proudly. “That would be fine with me! Although I know I won’t be; Tetsu-kun’s too cute for that. Plus, I accidentally told Ki-chan about it, so we have to get to Seirin before he does and steal Tetsu-kun’s lips from me.”

 

“Ugh, Kise’s going to be there?” Aomine grunted. “Well, I’ll just get him to play one-on-one later, make this trip a bit worthwhile.”

 

“Didn’t I tell you, Dai-chan?”

 

“What?”

 

“Kagami-kun’s working the dunk tank.”

 

“… _oh, yeah_ ,” Aomine purred, grinning viciously.

  

* * *

 

 

_That afternoon_ …

 

Hyūga slumped against the table for the twentieth time that day, groaning at his misfortune. Next to him, Kiyoshi was drinking from a glass of water, palming a chapstick in his hand. Izuki was chatting up several girls from his class, all holding bills in their hands and giggling at his charming smiles. A cute girl with a ponytail placed her money on the table, blushing when the point guard leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek.

 

Hyūga twitched at the subsequent wave of giggles that rushed forth from her friends, turning his head to meet Kiyoshi’s eyes. “When do we get a break from this? It’s been _four_ hours…”

 

Kiyoshi gave him a weary smile. “Riko said we’re not allowed to stop until we’ve met out goal. I think we’ve only managed about half that, despite Izuki’s fans.”

 

Hyūga groaned again, pressing his face to the table. His lips felt dry and a bit cracked. He was thankful that they weren’t actually required to kiss people on the lips, though he hadn’t put it past Riko to up the anty near closing time if they hadn’t reached their goal. Still, his lips felt uncomfortable, he hadn’t been able to use the bathroom, and he was so hungry that his stomach was cramping.

 

“Hyūga-kun! Izuki-kun! Kiyoshi!” Riko popped up next to their booth, causing all three boys to rocket into perfect posture and plastered smiles. She was smiling brightly, holding a small box in her hands. “I figured you might be hungry, so I brought this from the takoyaki stand for you.”

 

The takoyaki sticks were immediately snatched from the container the moment she set it on the table, eaten in less than five seconds.

 

“Delicious!” Hyūga moaned, licking the sauce from the stick. “Mitobe really knows how to cook. Wish I was working over there instead.”

 

“How are sales going over there?” Kiyoshi asked.

 

“Really well,” Riko replied, counting the yen in the small register on the table. “I had to take over for a little bit just now, so Mitobe and Koganei could run to the bathroom. We’re nearly to our goal for the separate booths, but if we could keep going and earn more we could pay for better cleaning equipment for the gym.”

 

“Ah, that’s good,” Kiyoshi sighed with relief. There were only a few hours of the festival left, which meant they would be free soon enough. Riko had promised to let them enjoy the festival once they had reached their fundraising goal. Kiyoshi was hoping to make it to the haunted café that his class was producing—

 

“Wait.”

 

Hyūga slowly turned to look at Riko. “What you said just now.”

 

She blinked. “About earning more than planned? Yeah, well, it’s a good opportunity—”

 

“No, not that,” he interrupted quickly. “About taking over the takoyaki stand for a little bit.”

 

Kiyoshi glanced at the empty box. His stomach gurgled ominously. _Oh no_.

 

“Well, it’s not like a lot of people came up while I was there. No one, really,” she pouted, her lip jutted out. “So when they got back, I just made a few for you guys and brought them over here so you—Hyūga-kun?!”

 

Hyūga had blanched sheet white, his hand clasping desperately at his stomach. He slid down the seat and onto the grass, his gray spirit floating sluggishly from his mouth, a sound like a tomb opening escaping from his lungs.

 

Izuki had paused in the middle of a conversation and face-planted into the table, his body shivering.

 

Kiyoshi took one pleading look at Riko, as if to ask _Why?_ before sweat began to pour down his face and a fist pressed against his mouth to hold in vomit.

 

“Izuki-kun! Kiyoshi! Why does this always happen?!” Riko shrieked, shouting over at the second years to come help her.

 

As it floated upward to the shining sun, Hyūga’s spirit whispered, _You know why_. _You know why_.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why would they put you there to replace the sempais?” Kagami bluntly asked, casting a look of disbelief at Kuroko from inside the tank. His hair was only beginning to dry after a round of enthusiastic dunks by classmates, while his clothes remained sopping wet.

 

Kuroko glared. “Would you like to replace me then, Kagami-kun?”

 

“No, no!” He shouted, scooting back on his bench seat. “I just—it seems like you would be the last person to work that booth, you know?”

 

“And why would you think that, Kagami-kun?” Kuroko continued to press, eyes narrowing.

 

“Well—because no one notices you!”

 

And indeed, students continued to pass the booth, stopping curiously and remarking at the lack of people at the stand. Kuroko had not introduced himself to any of these people yet, as he himself had no desire to kiss strangers, but he was beginning to feel guilty at not having earned any money for the team.

 

“Someone had to replace the sempais, after Coach’s cooking made them ill,” he answered reasonably, feeling pity for his upperclassmen.

 

“That’s true,” Kagami agreed, shaking his head in dismay. “How on earth does she do that to food…it’s crazy.”

 

They shared a moment of combined sympathy for the fallen Kiyoshi, Izuki, and Hyūga, who were now recovering in the nurse’s office, a guilty Riko with them for the moment.

 

“Kurokocchi!”

 

“Tetsu-kun!”

 

Kuroko startled, his head turning to the loud call from his right. Kise was dashing toward him, grinning broadly, Aomine and Momoi rushing to catch up. Or Momoi was, her arm pulling forcefully at Aomine’s arm.

 

“Kise-kun, Momoi-san, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko greeted bemusedly. “Welcome to Seirin.”

 

“Yo,” Aomine answered surly, before his eyes latched on to Kagami in the dunk tank. “Oh, this is going to be _perfect_.”

 

“Aomine, you bastard!” Kagami fired up at once. “Don’t you even think about—“

 

With a lazy flick of his hand, Aomine slammed a basketball into the target, sending the other player crashing into the water, hurling obscenities and threats through the splashes. Aomine began laughing, slapping his knee and grabbing another basketball.

 

“Aomine-kun, excuse me, but you have to pay for every time you dunk Kagami-kun in the tank,” Kuroko intruded quietly.

 

“Got it,” the Touo player answered, pulling his wallet and slapping down two thousand yen. “This’ll get me three more shots, right?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct,” Kuroko replied, folding the money into the cash register. “Thank you for your participation, Aomine-kun.”

 

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He grinned evilly. “What are you waiting for, Kagami? Back on the bench! I paid for three more, at the least.”

 

“What?! Kuroko, you bastard—don’t let him buy anymore!”

 

“Kagami-kun, that’s very rude,” Kuroko told him. “Aomine-kun is a paying customer.”

 

Kagami gave him a glare so hot Kuroko was surprised steam wasn’t rising from his drenched clothes. He turned away from his light when another handful of money was directed his way, this time from Momoi and Kise both.

 

“What is this? You would also like to dunk Kagami in the tank?”

 

“ _Oi_!”

 

“No, Tetsu-kun,” Momoi demurred, her cheeks flushing pink. “This is for you. You are running the Kissing Booth, yes?”

 

“That’s right, Kurokocchi,” Kise said as he leaned in, panting a bit. “Five hundred yen per k-k-kiss, right? I brought at least thirty thousand, maybe a bit more if there is an ATM nearby.”

 

Kuroko lurched back warily, noting the excited gleam in both of their eyes. “Ah, well….I’m really only a replacement, you see….”

 

“What’s wrong, Kuroko?” A dark voice arose, fresh from another bout in the dunk tank. Kagami looked at him intently, his face still mostly submerged in the water. “They’re _paying customers_ , aren’t they?”

 

Kuroko blinked at him, outwardly unimpressed, though he knew he’d deserved that. Momoi and Kise were now leaning over the table of the booth, eyes glazed and intent.

 

“Ah, um, Momoi-san, Kise-kun, it’s just—”

 

“Good afternoon, everyone.”

 

They all turned to see Akashi standing next to the booth, dressed in a sharp black suit with a red tie. He was smiling lightly at them all, though his eyes looked rather hard at Momoi and Kise where they were half on top of the table. They scrambled to right themselves, Momoi brushing down her skirt.

 

“Akashi-kun, welcome,” Kuroko greeted, stunned into silence. What was Akashi doing at Seirin’s school festival?

 

“I heard from Momoi-san that Seirin would be participating in the school festival, and I wanted to come show my support for an old teammate,” he explained smoothly, noting the blank, confused faces of the others. “Kuroko, how are you?”

 

Kuroko blushed a bit as Akashi’s direct attention turned to him, his dark red eyes burning. “Very well, thank you for asking, Akashi-kun. And you?”

 

“I have also been well. I have realized that, while Rakuzan is progressing with my training regimens according to plan and my work with the family business has been fruitful,” Akashi was drawing closer with every word, his hand finding his pants’ pocket and pulling out his wallet, “that I have been neglecting another opportunity that I had every intention of following after the Winter Cup finals.”

 

“Oh?” Kuroko asked quietly, entranced. The others were similarly still, somehow frozen in the magnetic pulse of influence that Akashi wielded as easily as he breathed. It was particularly heavy that day, laden with thick, faintly pleasant pressure that lulled him into silence.

 

“Yes,” Akashi purred, withdrawing several bills from his wallet and pressing them onto the table in front of Kuroko. He gracefully replaced Kise and Momoi in front of the booth, their bodies moving out of his path as if pressed outward by his gravity. “But I would like to correct that…now.”

 

His hand curled around Kuroko’s jaw, thumb brushing along the curve of his cheek. Akashi pulled him forward slowly, his ruby eyes heavy-lidded and pleased. Soft, firm lips pressed into Kuroko’s, teasing them into a gentle, rocking movement. Akashi nipped lightly at the other’s bottom lip, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth as Kuroko made a small, whimpering sound.

 

Kuroko melted against him as Akashi pressed his advantage, kissing harder as Akashi’s tongue trailed along the spot of his lower lip, soothing the tiny bite there. He dipped in, trailing his tongue lightly along Kuroko’s as if asking for permission to pursue. Kuroko gasped, his body hot and throbbing pleasantly, opening up sweetly as Akashi’s hand became a beloved stability holding him in place. That hot mouth pressed forward triumphantly, a conqueror claiming its well-won treasures. His hands found their way onto Akashi’s chest, grasping the front of his suit to pull him closer. He felt overwhelmed, hot and squirming in his skin; his cheeks felt as if they were on fire. Embarrassing sounds were forcing their way passed their locking lips, made all the more mortifying as Kuroko distantly noticed the absolute silence around them.

 

Akashi withdrew slowly, soothing Kuroko with small, soft kisses against his lips before pulling himself away completely, his hand trailing down his jaw to his neck before back to his own side. He opened his eyes to take in his effect upon Kuroko, smirking faintly at the sight.

 

Kuroko struggled to recover, forcing his breath to slow from small gasps. He wiped his hand along the edge of his mouth, which felt oddly wet and tender. Bruised.

 

Face flushing like never before, he forced his gaze away from the smug pleasure of Akashi’s, despite the elation and longing that that look prompted in himself, only to see the flabbergasted looks on the faces of anyone nearby.

 

Momoi and Kise stood next to the booth, shocked and rather aroused at having witnessed such a kiss so close, especially between _Kuroko and Akashi_. They wanted to fawn over the adorably innocent look of embarrassment on Kuroko’s face but were absolutely stunned at having been witness to Akashi kissing Kuroko in broad daylight, neither of which had ever made any mutual feelings for each other apparent. It felt as rare as winning the lottery or seeing a unicorn.

 

A basketball held loosely in his hand, Aomine stood gaping at them, Kagami making an almost identical expression from over his shoulder in the dunk tank. At some point, Riko had returned, so she too stood by the booth, eyes wide.

 

Akashi passed her the money on the table, curling around the table’s edge to take hold of Kuroko’s hand. “I believe this should be enough for a new goal hoop and additional supplies. If you don’t mind, I will be taking Kuroko for the rest of the afternoon to explore the festival together.”

 

They headed off together then, Kuroko following behind Akashi and looked bemusedly at their clasped hands, his blue eyes brightening happily.

 

The rest look on as they went, Riko moving to count the folded stack of bills. _Fifty-thousand yen_. She stared blankly at the money for a moment before nodding tightly. _Pleasure doing business with you, Akashi_.

 

* * *

 

 

At the bonfire later on that night, hosted on the empty baseball field, Momoi and Kise looked on with envy as Akashi and Kuroko pressed close together by the fire, whispering into each other’s ears and smiling. Aomine and Kagami alternated between exchanging insults, planning one-on-one matches for later, and watching the former captain of the Generation of Miracles and the shadow snuggle by the fire with a mix of confusion, constipation, and vague disgust.

 

Riko stood next to the recovering third years, who had managed to make it to the bonfire despite the food disaster that had led to hours of agony in the nurse’s office. After counting up the money from each of their separate events, they had more than enough to replace the goal hoop, buy new cleaning materials, and maybe a new set of basketballs and water bottles. Over half of those funds had come from the kissing booth, of which Kuroko had earned the most money with only one kiss. Aomine, incidentally, had contributed the most to the money from the dunk tank.

 

She made a note on her clipboard to invite the Generation of Miracles to any future fundraising events. She turned to Hyūga, bent over and looking aged by several decades.

 

“We could use some new uniforms for the upcoming year, don’t you think?”

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Leave a comment or kudos if you liked!


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